Hokie ClubBenji Pinckney was added to the staff as the volunteer assistant coach for distance in October of 2024, then elevated to the program's director of operations in May of 2025, as announced by Director of Track & Field and Cross Country, Ben Thomas.
In his first year (2024-2025) with the Virginia Tech track & field and cross country programs, Pinckney assisted with the coaching of All-American caliber athletes in cross country, indoor track & field and outdoor track & field. He assisted with the training of three ACC Champions (indoor: men's 800m, DMR / outdoor: men's 800m) and eight All-Americans (DMR, 1500m, 800m, 3,000m), as well as George Couttie in the cross country 10k.
As a member of the staff, Pinckney will assist with the training and development of student-athletes in the distance and cross country programs as well as retain some operational duties. Alongside his role with track & field and cross country, Pinckney is also the Academic Athletic Coordinator for SAASS and is an Olympic Sport representative.
Prior to Virginia Tech, Pinckney was the assistant track & field and cross country coach for the Radford programs. For two years he led recruitment for men's cross country and led training and development efforts for distance athletes while collaborating with support staff to encourage student-athlete success on and off the competition apparatuses.
Before joining the staff at Radford, Pinckney competed for the Highlanders as a distance athlete. He currently holds a top-10 performance slot in the program records for the 5K with a time of 15:03 and he scored for Radford at the 2019 Big South Cross Country Championships.
In high school, Pinckney tied the school's mile record and competed in three state championships for three different sports, including a third place finish for outdoor track & field.
Pinckney has also assisted at the Smokey Mountain Running Camp the previous three summers and at the Nike Cross Country Camp in 2021.